If anyone has a pheasant tail fan that needs a new home --- I'm your guy. I'm in desperate need of a fanned out tail as in a "rising Pheasant" to study and copy when engraving these birds. We have a severe shortage of pheasant down here or they are real good at hiding ---- I've never seen a live one except in a childrens zoo. Thanks in advance, Ken
Ken:
I will save one tomorrow, pin it up and let it dry. I can't recall how long they take to dry out but I would think I can have it to you within 2 weeks. Will that work?
If you need one in a hurry fly tying shops usually carry them for sale. My recollection is they clip you pretty good for them.
Chicago Mike
Make sure he gets one from a mature wild rooster, not some short assed pen raised bird. It makes a huge difference in proportions.
Ken, I am at my home in Canada for the holiday. Arrived today. I just got back from that trip to S. Dakota you and I discussed. Had a wonderful low key farm family time. I brought back several tail feather sections but they are in San Diego and I won't be back till after next weekend. It you are not overloaded with them by then I will send you one the next day. If you need one sooner and no one offers one right up, there is someone staying at my house who can send it.
The little Fox 20 with the 26 inch barrels that I bought at that funky auction last year was amazing. Acted like a magic wand. Carried like a feather and shot unconsciously. Almost never missed. If I can figure out how to post pictures I will do so with some stories.
Hope all is well with you. Craig
Im not sure what you are talking about. What is a tail feather section or fan? How do you remove it from the bird?
Ross
Mr. Hurst - I applaud your efforts at accuracy and authenticity :-)
Hope all is well with you, Miss Julie, and the pets.
Cheers
Stephen
CHICAGO, many thanks for the offer ! I certainly appreciate it & it will be of great help with an up coming project requiring a couple of pheasant. My mailing address is ;
Ken Hurst
PO box 5
Robersonville, N.C. 27871
Jake, glad you took some time off --- you needed a break anyway. Thanks also for your offer but Chicago has offered to send me one. I'll be inlaying a few pheasant in gold for Mr. Baron 23 along with some other critters & the tail will be ready in time. Have a ball while you are away. Ken
Mr. Hurst, it was a a pleasure talking with you. I will send your Pheasant skin off this morning via the US Mule.
Ken:
Per Jerry's comment it will be a pen raised bird and the mature wild roosters generally do have much longer tails. I will send along anyway and you can make the call.
Mike
Thanks guys ---- y'all really come thru in a pinch. Ken
Ken,
Your request could not be more timely, I got back from SD last night. I will pick out the best of the "long tails" and send to you. My pheasants will be sent later and I will send you a couple around the first along with some quail.
Jim
Kenny,
My little Lab had a hold of a live rooster yesterday morn during a hunt and pulled all the tailfeathers out on the ground. Had I known, I'd have picked them up or pulled some off the 2 phez I took.
I just mailed to Ken a complete skin, beak to tail, of a big wild rooster. We dont have any other kind here. I skin a few each year, just for occasions like this. They sure are pretty....
I do not want the skin and feathers, I want the meat!
Well, you'll have to shoot your own! If you want to come out and shoot a few, we still have December dates open. So far we have harvested over 80 wild birds
http://www.huntersbb.com
Ken, having lived in Iowa nearly all my life, and having hunted those evil Chinese imports since the 1950's, I'd offer one piece of advice for your consideration as an engraver: When a mature, long-tailed rooster rises, there's almost always at least a bit of a "hook" at the end of the tail. Two feet of tail is a lot to flap around in the breeze, and in pheasant country, there's almost always some breeze!
Ken:
It sounds like Last Dollar took care of request. The skin will give you a better flavor than just the tail.
Ditto Larry Browns comment about the hook. Would it be helpful for members to look for photos or wild life art examples of roosters rising? My guess is you have already done this, but I would be glad to help.
Sounds like a great project Mr. Baron is having done.
Mike
Ken, As you know, I have also shot many, many pheasants. And I agree with Mike and Larry. In a rush take off a big rooster will almost always have a little "english" on the tail until they are up, clear and on a straight path. Don't know if I would use the word "hook." Best, Jake
"Curve at the end" might be better, Jake. But it looks as if we're all used to seeing the same thing when a big rooster blasts out of the cover.
I've seen good photos of what we're trying to describe. The best illustrations I can find readily at hand are on pages 62, 80, and 81 of "A Wingshooter's World, Volume II". I was the shooting "model" in those shots, but pro photographer Danny Dempster did a really excellent job of capturing roosters in flight.
Here are a couple of photos I took this Fall which shows what Larry and Mike were discussing:
Here is an interesting one of a pheasant flushing and ejecting a "smoke" ring as it flushed.
These photos were taken at Springer trials held this Fall.
Very good illustrations of what I was referring to, Ian!
I see what y'all meant when you mentioned a tail hooking. I will remember this info & put it to use. Thanks, ken
I want to be a shooting model. Where do I apply? Jake
I would like to thank you all for the skinned birds and photos as, as Ken mentioned, it is my gun he is engraving. I notice that in Ian's pictures, especially one and three, its clear that those long tails seem to go in almost any direction!
Chicago - you mentioned my project, so I thought I would post a couple of pictures. Its an SX-1, very late serial number target grade with smooth sided receiver. I know this is a double gun site, so I hope you will forgive me posting auto pics (beside, data storage space is cheap these days!
)
This is the left side of the receiver, and hence the inquiry into Pheasant geometry, with art overlaid on a picture of a factory Pigeon grade SX-1 I have. There is to be two pheasants if they will fit nicely, but at this point I am leaving all decisions of composition detail and proportion to Ken. He knows what aspects of this art interest me. Also, both Ken and I like better another example I had of short hairs so the dogs will be a little different, a little more dynamic of a pose. Finally, Ken has done a much more lush and interwined scroll on the gun and has left a bit more room for the game scenes than on the factory guns (which were also engraved by Ken's old company when he was contracted to do production work for Win).
Right side, we are staying with Wood ducks.
Blank being worked by Boone Berlin, purchased from Cecil Fredi
Gunsmithign to be done by Mr. Ernest Marlette who will also do some of the best high polish deep bluing I have ever seen, both receiver and barrel. Barrel is 28" vent rib thin wall choked by Briley for versitility.
Let me offer my thanks again to all for their help, although I know it was in response to Ken's request and reflects the respect we all have for him.
Baron that is going to be one fantastic gun. Please please please post pictures when all it said and done!
Hi Storm - thank you very much...I certainly will post pics when completed, after all...this project has turned into a little bit of an obsession and what good is that if you don't get to show it off LOL
By the way, the animals will be gold inlay, I know some here think that a bit gouche, but on an auto with a very deep bluing I think it will look grand.
Last Dollar and Jim --- I received the pheasant tails & wanted to thanks ya'll. These will go along ways in helping me to be more accurate in my work ---- Ken
Baron23 and Ken:
I echo the aforementioned request for photos of end result. Great project and being an owner of a couple of GSP's I look forward to seeing end result. I never get enough of seeing Ken's work.
Mike
Very well thought out engraving. Lots of detail. Looks difficult.